Last September I wrote a post about my office, which you can read here. In it, I said I wanted to invest some of my book money into the space where I would be spending the most time, and that's still true now. Whenever I get a check, I try to use some of it toward my office space.

So, in January, I bought this:

I cannot even begin to describe how sad my last bookcase was. The bottom shelf broke under the extreme pressure of eight million tons of books. So I had towers and towers of books on the very bottom, and it was absolutely ridiculous trying to get to anything. I wish I would have taken a picture of it before I trashed it.

It was definitely time for a new one. So I went to a local furniture place that sells furniture made of REAL WOOD and not that pressboard crap you get at places like Walmart. This new bookcase is sturdy, and solid, and I love it so much.

But in order to get to the final, more organized version, I had to sort through this mess:

I actually quite enjoy organizing my books, but this was definitely a chore, and gah, they were so covered in dust. When I was finished, I had a much more clean, more organized version.

As you can see, I still have stacks and stacks next to the bookcase, and I also have stacks behind the rows on each shelf. I am in dire need of one more case, I think, which I plan on getting in a few months.

And, I made some other, small changes to the office. In my first office post, it looked like this:

So clean! And simple! Except I apparently cannot do clean and simple. My brain is chaotic, and it spills into my surroundings.

See?

I have a few more things I want to do. Like curtains! So I will probably do one more post in another month or two. When that happens, I'll have to do a close up of some of the things I've taped to my walls. I also plan to (hopefully) add a reading corner back that way --------->

I don't even know where to start with Sam. He was the hardest character for me to get to know, and in some ways, still is. And I think it's because he's the kind of person who will tell you what you want to hear, or need to hear, in order to keep the truth, his more personal answer, to himself.

Everything Sam does is calculated. He'll think everything through before he does it. He is, in no way, spontaneous, or reckless. And he will be the first person to sacrifice himself if he knows it'll save others, but only people who deserve to be saved.

Out of the four boys, Sam is the smartest, but he tries never to make that obvious. Again, he keeps all the important things, the details that make him who he is, secret. If he can manage it, that is.

I am so looking forward to writing ALTERED #2 so I can dive a little more into Sam's past, and his character. I know there are still many things I can uncover about him. And yes, that includes his abs. I can guarantee I will uncover his abs in Book #2.

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1. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

A spotted owl

2. Let's say you're walking down the street. You're wearing a thick coat. You have a sandwich in your hand and a $20 bill in your pocket and a frail man stops you, begging for some change. Do you give him anything?

I would give him the food and the money.

3. You've won the lottery. What's the first thing you buy?

A house.

4. What's the one thing you couldn't live without?

Free will

Interviewer's note: Sam's answer to the 1st question was at first an interesting, and rather telling, answer. Upon exiting the interview, it was noted that in the waiting area, on the coffee table, there was a magazine with a spotted owl on the cover.

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That's it for the ALTERED hot guys posts! I hope you all enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them. Though I suspect, for you and me, it had more to do with the visual aids, than it did the actual text. Amirite?

I'm taking part in the Hotties of Literature blog event today along with fellow hot guy enthusiasts Brigid Kemmerer and Marni Bates. Which means I had to spend over an hour Googling pictures of hot actors and models in order to write this post. Feel sorry for me.

The point of this event is to cast hot guys from any book of your choosing. Feel free to take part!

So, first up, Perry from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. Brigid cast this book, too, but I loved Never Sky so hard, and Perry is one of my new lit crushes. I just HAD to feature him!

I pictured Perry as a hottie blond with crazy, unkempt hair. And there was no one better to fit that bill than this picture of Charlie Hunnam (which I also used for Cas from ALTERED, but whatever, he's sexy):

If you haven't read Under the Never Sky yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Next up, Luc from Erica O'Rourke's Torn and Tangled.

Luc is a hot, sexy Cajun with magic. And he is totally going to win Mo over in the forthcoming Bound.

Milo Ventimiglia fits my vision of Luc so well. Though, I think he'd be a bit younger than Milo here, and maybe a tad bit bigger (taller, more muscle!).

As for that other boy in Torn and Tangled, Cole or Cornelius or something like that, I picture him like this:

And lastly, I'm casting the Darkling from Leigh Bardugo's forthcoming Shadow & Bone, which also means many of you probably haven't read the book, but believe me when I say you totally want to. So when it does release, run to the nearest book retailer and pick up your copy. Then clear your schedule, and don't plan on talking to your family and friends for at least twenty-four hours. Maybe even forty-eight, because you will have a recovery time, as well.

I pictured the Darkling as sexy, but slick, and super, super dark. Obviously.

This picture of Sean O'Pry (who, yes, I've also used for other hot guy posts, but this picture is much different, and also, why not use him again and again?) looks very similar to my image of the Darkling, right down to the black trench. The hair is maybe a bit too wild, but I figure the Darkling just got through fighting bad guys in the woods with his badass powers, so he's rumpled.

Check out the other Hotties of Literature posts over at Brigid Kemmerer's blog and Marni Bates's blog. And feel free to participate by posting on your own blog or tweeting your picks by using the hashtag #HottiesofLit. And if you DO post on your blog, tweet your link, or leave it here, so I can read your picks!

There's no sense sugar coating it. Nick is an asshole. He's the kind of person who would con you out of your last meal and have no remorse about it. He's morally bankrupt, and broken, and doesn't waste time with idle chat. But he will tell you how it is, if it needs to be said. He has no issue with telling the truth, even if it's the wrong thing to say at the time.

Nick spent the greater part of his life fending for himself, so he doesn't trust anyone, and hates the thought of leaving his fate in someone else's hands. At the same time, if he thinks it'll better serve him to stick with a group, he will. He's stubborn, and uncooperative, but his decisions are never emotionally based. He does what he knows is best for survival, and maybe he doesn't want to cross Bridge B in order to get from A to C, but he'll do it, even if it pisses him off the whole way.

He also cusses like a trucker. Add that to his habit of saying whatever he wants, and you'll know why I say he's one of my favorite characters to write. There are few lines Nick won't cross, and for a writer, that's liberating.

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1. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

That's your lead-in question?

INTERVIEWER: [laughs] Yes, this is just a for-fun interview. Nothing too serious here.

[silence]

INTERVIEWER: So, which animal would you be?

I'm not answering that. Next question.

2. Let's say you're walking down the street. You're wearing a thick coat. You have a sandwich in your hand and a $20 bill in your pocket and a frail man stops you, begging for some change. Do you give him anything?

Depends what kind of frail we're talking about. Frail like he's dying? I'd point him in the direction of the nearest hospital. Frail like he's a worthless drunk? I'd tell him to [sensored] off.

And one mirror self-portrait. This was taken at 11pm. While sick. So don't expect much.

I'm going to try to stick with posting pictures every Friday from now until March 2013. They will be pictures taken that week, unless otherwise noted. So I can't promise they will be interesting, ever. As you can see, I took a picture of Monday morning's breakfast. And then Wednesday morning's breakfast. But since I take pictures anyway, I figure this is a good way to keep the blog updated with what happens in my life week to week. Plus, I use up a lot of my word power on writing, and there are only so many words left over. Which I use on Twitter, obviously.